Anyone else not use ADRs?

[SandmanGStefani24]

Well, i have never used ADRs, and to tell you the truth I still eat very well! :D Looking here though, lots of you do so am I missing something? Does anyone else besides me not use them or is this something I am really missing out on?

I like to eat several small meals throughout the day, with one big meal between most people's normal lunch and dinner times. Epcot is tough because there is so much good food to eat. So could I benefit from ADRs or am I ok without?

[SBETigg]

If you don't care where you eat on any given Disney day or whether it's table service or counter, then you're safe to go without ADRs. If you do know that you want a particular table service restaurant at a particular time, then your best bet is to make the ADR. Would you benefit from ADRs? It wouldn't hurt. But if you're happy with the way you've been doing things, carry on.

[DisneyGlutton]

Well if what you've been doing works for you, then keep it up.

The way we eat, the lack of ADRs would ruin our trip. If I didn't eat at California Grill, Flying Fish, etc, I would die. Running around from restaurant to restaurant would also drive me crazy.

[Tigerinvestigator]

I once felt the same way you do now. If you check my posts from two years ago you will see how I felt ADR's were ruining the experience for everyone. I absolutley hate having to be at a restaurant at a certain day and time on my vacation. It shouldn't be that way and it wasn't for a long time. However I have now become one of the majority and reluctantly make a few ADR's for my trip. But my favorite meals are the ones I walk right into laughing at those seated outside waiting on a later reservation time. HA HA HA! Free dining (which I have never participated in) has made ADR's a necessity if there are specific restaurants you want to eat at during your vacation. But I am still with you......KEEP FIGHTING for those of us who can no longer carry on........and may the mouse be with you!:thumbsup:

[clou1028]

I don't, for a couple reasons. I'd say first and foremost, I don't want to have to fit my day around my dining plans. For someone like me, who usually only goes for 5 days, dining at table service 2-3 times a day is just not something I want to spend my time on.

Secondly, I've had a few pretty awful meals, and a lot of mediocre ones at WDW table service. My husband and I still joke to this day about 1900 Park Fair. We ate there in '97 on our honeymoon, and I kid you not when I tell you it was the worst food either one of us had ever eaten. We barely touched our plates and were sick afterwards. At the time it was Mickey and Minnie who hosted the character meal there, and even Mickey noticed that we weren't eating our food! He kept pointing at our plates, rubbing his belly, and then holding his hands up as if asking why we weren't eating.

The free dining doesn't appeal to me at all. I'd rather have the room discount.

[SurferStitch]

I would keep doing what works for you, especially if you don't really care where or when your next meal is. ADR's can be a hassle to make, but they make our trips much more relaxing and worry free.

Having a set time for a meal actually makes our days easier to plan. Well, actually, we only really plan out our first day. The rest we decide the night before, or the morning when we wake up. We never feel like we have to be at a certain park on a certain day. We just know that we have breakfast here, or dinner there.

There are also restaurants we will not miss, and we have seen walk-ups turned away at all of them....Narcoossee's, Cali Grill, 'Ohana (breakfast and dinner), Le Cellier (lunch and dinner), Donald's Safari Breakfast, Chef Mickey's breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, etc.

So, ADR's are a must for us. Fabulous dining is a big part of the trip for us, so without the ADR's, we would not be too happy.

[kemps@wdw]

We don't use adrs for all of our dining choices either. With the exception of the HDDMR or any character dining we decide on. We kinda "wing it" most of the time when it comes to mealtime. If we decide on a last minute restaurant, we've have usually been able to call from our room and get a table. It is a little easier to get them if you're willing to be flexible with your times. Earlier or later than standard meal times are easier to get.:thumbsup:

[disneymomw_3boys]

We always make ADR's for our trip, but its pretty hard to plan in February what you might want on a Friday night in April, so we always are willing to cancel if the plans change.

If you have not already I would suggest you try a couple places like Cali Grill, Flying Fish or Chefs De France you will see why so many get those ADR's. A nice meal on your vacation makes a great memory.

Not all meals need to be sit down with ADR's, just a couple and you may like it, if not stick to whats been working for you.:thumbsup:

[Kathy Jetson]

We only make adrs for chef mickeys. This year we also added t-Rex. All the rest we just get something when we are hungry.

[jnfr2424]

I think it totally depends on what time of the year you are going. I miss the days when I would wake up and make dining reservations for that day. I saw last year first hand of restaraunts turning away people because they did not have ADR's during Thanksgiving. If it's working for you not to make any then so be it

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

When it was just my DH and I we would do ADR's because we love eating at different places. We are also extensive planners... it's part of the magic for us!

since we've had children, we do only a couple sit downs because we're really going on their time. We love that there is the quick service meal plan because we have everything paid off when we arrive and only pay OOP for our couple of sit down meals. We really eat when they are hungry and want to eat and run... we actually plan our counter service meals but, we can always change our minds if the mood strikes us since we aren't committed to a place and time.

[Tinkerbella16]

This year was a first for us using free dining so that is the only reason why I made ADR's everyday of our trip. I won't pay for the dining plan, unless they were to go back to what it used to be. I don't like planning my entire vacation on dining but this year was an exception getting it free.

Usually I'll make 1 or 2 ADR's during our stay for my favorite like Kona or somewhere we haven't been. Its nice to have at least one sit down meal. But I don't like what the free ddp has become and how you can't walk-up ANYWHERE anymore. That was never the case years ago. So I'll only go crazy on adr's if I'm on the dining plan, other than that...no thanks!

:mickey: